


Party of One

by DameMarchDolcetto (AlectoErinye)



Category: DragonFable (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Waiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2020-10-28 17:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlectoErinye/pseuds/DameMarchDolcetto
Summary: (Post-Book 2, pre-Book 3) The dragon spends five birthdays all alone.





	1. Five Dragon Birthdays

**Author's Note:**

> Slowly, slowly, pollution via migration~

**(1)**

It was his birthday today, which meant that today was the most important day in the world. The sun was shining, the grass was growing, and everything was warm and bright and wonderful. It was a perfect day and it was only going to get better because today, at last, his wish was finally going to come through. He's already wished it on stars, of course, though it hasn't been granted yet (stupid stars).

But today was his birthday! Birthdays were meant for wishes! Which meant that, of course, his wish would finally be granted today, on his birthday. It was just common sense. He hops up and flies expectantly onto the ice block. His Dragonlord was the only one left inside. The others had managed to leave already but she was still inside. Such a lazy girl.

(He sorta does wonder about Warlic, though. They were friends, weren't they? Why didn't he take her with him? Oh well)

"Aren't you supposed to break out now?"

No response. Typical. Stupid lazy heroes.

"Come on," he says expectantly. "It's my birthday! Didn't you promise we'd go to the beach on my birthday? Well it's my birthday _now_. Come on, you lazybones! Up and at it!"

He waits for the telltale crack of ice splintering, for the almost musical sound of its shattering. He's been dreaming of this for so long and he just _knows_ that today's the day. He can feel it in his bones. All he has to do is wait and he'll see it.

"Rawr!"

He's not very patient.

"Rawr! Rawr rawr rawr RAWR!"

His claws are sharp.

"RAWR! RAWR! _RAWR!_"

His breath is pure elemental fury.

"RAUGH!"

Regardless, the ice remained undamaged.

"Honestly..." he mutters. "Stupid ice."

Oh well. He can wait. He's a dragon. He has all the time in the world. He can be patient if he has to.

"Though I've been patient, already!" He makes sure to yell at the ice beneath him. No response. He sighs.

Nothing for it. He tucks his wings into his sides, curls up onto the chunk of ice and settles in for a long wait.

* * *

**(2)**

It's his birthday today.

It was his birthday when they first met, wasn't it? Yes, he can recall. He can still remember it, of course. His memory is, like the rest of him, flawless and, anyway, even the dumbest dragon out there couldn't forget the day they found their Dragonlord. That flash of instant connection the moment they'd first met, when he'd first hatched, wings still damp from his egg's shell was as unforgettable as it ever was. He didn't see her then, not really. He'd been a hatchling, eyes milky with film and sensitive to the light. But, and he knows this was the same for her, he knew her the moment he'd been born. He'd known her. He knew she was to be his pet, his human, his Dragonlord. And he was to be hers. The two of them had been together since the day he was born.

Until the ice came along, the two of them had been inseparable since the day he was born.

He levels a glare at the block of ice, still pristine, still unmarked, still _standing_ after all the hours (days/weeks/months) he'd spent trying to chip at its surface. His fury only intensifies at the sight of the familiar absent figure within its depths.

"I know you're alive, you know!"

He hacks at the ice with blazing claws. It does not break.

"I can feel you in there! Wake up, already!"

He blasts a pulsing beam of white-hot fire at the ice. It does not melt.

"It's my birthday! You promised!"

He bites and scratches. He slices and lashes. He blasts and burns. His claws crackle with fire. His breath is pure elemental flame. His whole body burns with heat, anger, and elemental rage.

The ice remains unscathed.

His eyes flash red and he growls, long and low.

Stupid, idiot hero!

"What is wrong with you?!" he yells. "It's been _two years! TWO WHOLE YEARS!_"

His burning jaws slam into unmelting ice.

"You're supposed to be out already!"

His flaming breath splashes harmlessly over its frozen surface.

"We're supposed to be celebrating right now! Together!"

He rams at the ice with all his might, body burning with heat, and receives nothing but cold vapor as a result.

"You're supposed to be stronger than this!"

His blazing claws reach for the figure trapped inside and are stopped cold by the crystalline prison.

"You're not supposed to leave me," he pants, glaring furiously at the ice and at the person it kept from him. When he tries to peer into their connection, all he can feel is cold. "We're supposed to be a team. Always!"

The crystal glitters silently in the afternoon sun. No one answers him. There is no one able to answer him.

That fact only enrages him.

"Fine! Be like that!"

He launches himself into the air, glaring at the ice as he flew above it.

But his Dragonlord does not respond.

His glare only sharpens. With a huff, he flies off far, far away, each wingbeat shaking off the frost that had crept over his wings over the course of his trying to free his friend. Stupid hero. Stupid ice. Stupid everything.

She could just find him on her own! That'd show her! It was his birthday. He wasn't going to spend it trying to free an idiot who couldn't be bothered to do it herself!

"When she finds me, I'm going to yell at her," he mutters to himself as he flies farther and farther away, the ice now a speck in the distance. "That'll show her. That'll _show_ her."

Oaklore, the cliff, the ice, he leaves it all behind him in a rush of furious wingbeats.

* * *

**(3)**

It's his birthday today. It should matter (a lot) but he hasn't really celebrated it these past few years and, in all honesty, he hasn't really felt like celebrating it.

There's no one to celebrate it with, after all.

Well, okay, that wasn't _quite_ true, he amends. There was Elysia, of course, back in Sunbreeze and Twilly, back in Falconreach. That wasn't even mentioning all his legions of fans and worshippers from around the world, as he was due as the Dragon of Legend -

But _she_ wouldn't be there and what was the point if she wasn't there to celebrate with him?

His mood sours.

He just wishes she could just bust out of there already. That's all he wants, promise. That's really all he wants...

He's done everything. He's made wishes on stars and birthday candles. He's prayed to deities he's never even met. He's searched and searched for things to melt that infernal ice crystal. He's spent hours trying to chip at an ice that never seemed to melt.

And now...

He did this.

"It's not going to work, is it?" he asks himself, staring at his reflection on the mirror from his place on the bed. The bed is cold; it hasn't been slept in for a very long time. The room is messy and disorganized, and every available surface has been covered with paper cranes, all clumsily folded. "So there's no point in visiting, is there?"

No one is there to answer him. He curls up into a ball on the cold, dusty pillow and breathes in a fading scent.

"There really is no point."

He tries to peer into their connection, long-since quiet, and feels nothing but a screaming cold.

"I shouldn't bother. There's no point."

He snuggles into crumpled, unslept-in blankets, eyes open in the darkness.

"No point at all."

There were a lot of other things he could be doing, he thinks. He could go see Elysia, again. She did promise to set aside something nice for him, when his birthday came. He could go play with Twilly. Hide and seek was always nice. Hunt the moglin was always fun. He could even go hunting. It wasn't like there was anyone around to really treat him on his birthdays any more and he did feel a bit hungry.

(but he could also go back there. And stay there.)

"There's no point," he reminds himself with an irritable shake of his head. "It's not going to work!"

(but it's not like she's dead. He knows that. He can feel it. Just as he can feel that frost at her end of their connection, he can feel that she is still alive)

((for all the difference it makes))

Anyway, it's dangerous, going there nowadays. The Rose outpost in Oaklore was only growing more powerful and there was a guard watching over the ice not too far off. Those guards don't like him. He can handle them, of course, but even Elysia's warned him about doing anything dangerous by himself.

(and he really was all by himself these days)

There's no point and it's dangerous. So he shouldn't go. He really shouldn't. He mustn't.

But.

But.

But today was his birthday and his third since she'd been stuck here. If there could ever be a better time for a Dragonlord Hero like her to break free from out of the ice aside from immediately after getting confined, it was on a day like this. Third time's the charm, right? And he'd finally just finished folding all those paper cranes, too.

If third time's the charm and the paper cranes story was true, then today just might finally be the day. He hopes so. He just...

Maybe it was going to be pointless. Maybe it was dangerous.

But he just.

He just hopes.

He sets off not a minute after.

* * *

**(4)**

It's official. He hates ice.

Fire was way, _way_ better. It was the best. It was the _greatest_. Who needed ice, anyway? He doesn't need it, that's for sure. Heck, maybe it was a sign that fire was the first element he was attuned to. Fire was the opposite of ice, wasn't it? Heat and cold and all that? Maybe it was a sign that now and forever, he would always, _always_ hate ice.

He hates it. He does.

He _hates_ it. He hatehate_hates_ it.

He hates how it feels, how it smells, how it tastes. He hates how it looks, how it sounds, and everything, _everything_ about it.

And he hates _her_ most of all.

He's always known (though he's always hated to think it) that, someday, he would have to live without her, that she would die millennia before he, that the time would come when she would have to leave him, but it wasn't supposed to be _now_. He's too young, she's too young, they're _both_ too young to be separated, not yet.

And yet they are. And he hates her for it. Hates her and the stupid ice witch that did this to her. Hates her and that stupid pyromancer that broke out and left without her. Hates her and that stupid blue mage who was supposed to be her friend and yet left without taking her with him.

He hates them. He hates everything. He hates _her_.

It's not like she's _dead_. If she were, he'd - he'd have to accept that. He'd - he'd get that. He'd - he'd prepared for that years and years ago. But she's not. She's alive, he knows it, he _feels_ it, he can feel her pulse beating in time with his own even after all these years. She's alive. She's just

Just asleep. Or something. Freezing or something. He doesn't know. He doesn't _care._

She's not here. That's the big part. She's not here when she's supposed to always be and that's the biggest, worst sin and mistake she's ever made.

He hates ice. Despises it.

He hates that its keeping him away from her.

And he hates her.

He hates her.

He does.

(or at least he's been trying to)

(because at the end of the day, at the end of all days)

(he can't)

But he tells her he does as he strikes at the ice, on the eve of his fourth birthday since she's been here. He repeats the words until the sun goes down and his claws, jaws, and wings have all gone numb with cold and he has to rest once more at the ice's side.

* * *

**(5)**

A lot of things have happened over the past few years.

Ash has become a full-fledged adventurer. Town's gotten a lot more crowded. The weather has become gloomier all year-round. More and more old friends and allies have set off for parts unknown. A lot has happened. A lot has changed.

And yet the only change that matters to him has been the one that hasn't happened.

He tucks his wings in as he curls up by the ice block, staring at the uprooted trees in the distance.

"I won't forgive you, you know."

His voice is quiet. She is, as she has been these past five years, unresponsive.

"It's been five years. Get out already."

The sun sets in the distance. From his perch by the ice, he can see another of his fellow dragons fall to Rose arrows. He makes no move as to leave his place by her side

"Falconreach is in trouble again."

Birds are flying for shelter over head. The winds blow strong. He can smell rain in the breeze. A storm was coming.

"A lot of your friends are going through a lot of trouble these days. They need your help. Our help."

He closes his eyes. His body is numb with cold and exhaustion. He feels cold and exhaustion at the other end of their line.

"There's this Rose thing that's been going on. You're not going to like them. I don't."

He rests his back against the cracks in the ice - too small for anything to come out of them and the only fruit of hours (days/weeks/months) of labor.

"A lot of the folks back in Falconreach don't. Our family, too."

He reaches for presence at the end of their bond, feels for the now-familiar all-encompassing scream of cold and embraces it as proof that at least she was not dead.

"You might be able to help them. If you were here. If you get out."

Despite the cracks, the fractures, the marks that marred its once pristine surface, the ice remains solid, unbroken, and unyielding. And the person inside remained unconscious.

"... it's my birthday, you know."

The rain is falling now, the sound seeming endless now that is has begun. He hears it as it beats at the roofs at Oaklore, at the treetops over head. He hears it as it sounds against the ice by his side. He only curls up tighter in response, eyes remaining closed, leaning his head against the damaged-but-whole ice block. Without quite meaning to, his voice drowned out by the thunder rumbling overhead, he speaks, even as flashes of lightning sear his eyes through tightly shut eyelids.

"I wish you escape soon."

No one answers.


	2. One Hero's Birthday

**(?)**

It is quiet in Oaklore save the sound of the breeze, the rustling of trees, and the beating of a baby dragon's wings as he alighted on the familiar, detested, ice block.

"Hey... It's me, again."

"Still nothing, huh? That's okay."

"... Well, actually... it's not but... Since it's your birthday, I'll let it slide. Just this once, mind you!"

"Anyway... I'm sorry I didn't get you a present. I tried to find you some cake but, well..."

"... The new people around Oaklore aren't very friendly, that's all I'm going to say."

"I did find some candy, though. You can have it. Here."

"Happy birthday, Hero."

"I'm sorry. I know it's not much."

"Still, candy lasts a really long time, you know, so it should be okay to eat by the time you get out, even if it does take you a while to get out of there."

"If you can, though, I'd like it if you eat it now. Right now. Can you?"

It is quiet in Oaklore save the sound of the breeze.

"... It's okay. I didn't really expect you to."

"There's... there's no cake but, so long as we're both here, I guess I might as well do this. If I sound silly, remember, you're the one who insisted we always do this. Your own singing isn't exactly great, you know! So you're not allowed to laugh at mine. I mean, this is traditional, right? You said it yourself. Okay, here goes..."

"_Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy birthday..."_

_"... Happy birthday to you."_

It is quiet in Oaklore save the sound of the breeze.

"Actually, you know what, if you break out to laugh at me, I won't mind."

"Really. I won't."

"Are you listening? You can laugh at me if you want! Can you even hear me in there!?"

"... I can't hear anything in that head of yours. Just... I just feel _cold."_

"... You know, I... I really don't know if you can hear me in there. I don't know if you're awake or you're asleep or if you're dreaming or anything. All I know is, you aren't dead."

"But I do know how lonely it is to spend your birthday by yourself."

It is quiet in Oaklore.

"... Hey, look. It's the first star of the night! Make a wish. Since it's your birthday, it's okay to wish, right? You told me that on my last birthday when you were still, you know, _awake,_ remember? So you don't get lonely, I'll make a wish, too."

"I'm wishing for you to get out, just so you know. Hatch soon."

"You should wish the same thing. It might work, since it's your birthday today."

"I'm sure a lot of people have wished the same thing. I mean, lots of people miss you, back home."

"Though maybe that's just because they don't know how loud you snore."

"A lot of people really do miss you, though."

"People like Elysia, Twilly, Ash, a lot of the Guardians..."

"Heck, you know, that innkeeper lady's still keeping your room _yours_ for you, even though you're not around to pay rent or get rid of the ghosts any more."

"Though I guess that might just be Ash. I hear he's covering for you, as far as the ghosts are concerned. He can, now, you know. He's a real adventurer now."

"Not as good as us, of course. But still. You'd be happy, I think."

"I'm pretty sure Serenity would do it even if Ash weren't covering. She comes by to dust every now and then. She says its the least she can do."

"... I'm staying in your old room now, by the way. It's quiet there."

It is quiet in Oaklore.

"Too quiet, actually. But, sometimes, Serenity comes by and lets me have a bit of bread. So that's nice."

"I'm doing just _fine_ on my own, though, even without her pity bread. I can hunt my own food, find my own drinks, all that stuff."

"I'm doing just _fine_, you see."

"... though I do have to visit Elysia more often, now, since I can't swap elements when you're not around."

"It's... not so bad, I guess. Reminds me of way back then, from before you got your Dragon Amulet."

"You should really break out now, though. It's really frustrating. Since I know you have an Amulet and all, it's annoying to have to keep going to Sunbreeze just to change elements."

"No?"

It is quiet in Oaklore.

"... its alright. I guess I wasn't really expecting you to, anyway."

"Seeing Elysia's been nice enough. She has some new Void dragon friends and they're pretty okay. Not as cool as me, of course. But they're not bad."

"Elysia's actually teaching me some new skills. You know, for when I'm in Titan form? It's... it hasn't been easy since I don't have you around to actually, you know, turn me into a Titan but we managed. Somehow. It's been pretty interesting. I think you'll be happy with what I've learned. I've gotten loads stronger!"

"You'd be proud."

"I wish I could see it now."

It is quiet.

"... Hey, I know I said I'm doing just fine on my own but... I miss you. A lot. It's... It hasn't gotten any easier, really, and even after all this time, I still - I'm still not strong enough to break this ice, not by myself."

"It's-it's dumb, right? We're supposed to be strongest when we're together but, even though you're right here, I'm not strong enough to do something as simple as breaking some stupid ice. All because you got your stupid self trapped by some stupid, ungrateful ice witch. And- and you're not strong enough either, I guess or you'd have broken out already."

"If you're awake, I mean. If you can even hear me."

"Gosh, even now, I can't hear _anything_ from you. All I feel is just cold."

"You must be lonely in there."

"If you're... if you're even awake."

It is quiet.

"Hey, I know it's your birthday and all and I'm sorry for asking for a gift even though I didn't get you much, but if I could ask for anything, anything at all, could you please break out of there already? It's been so long, already, and I miss you. I'll do anything, I promise, anything at all. I'll stop complaining about your singing or your snoring or - or anything, ever again, just please, please, please wake up..."

It is only quiet.

"...It's okay. Don't worry about it. Even if not today, I'll still be be around when you finally get out. Promise. No matter how long it takes, I'll be there, expecting you."

("And the many apologies you're going to have to make. You're going to owe me my Titan weight in Fresc-O's, you hear me?!")


	3. The First Birthday After

**(6)**

It was his birthday today. As a treat, she'd promised to let him do whatever he wanted but...

"You know... when I said we could hang out for your birthday, I didn't think you meant it quite this uh... literally."

The dragon said nothing, perfectly content to settle in the space across her neck, draping himself over her shoulders like a great, reptilian boa. The dragon had only gotten bigger over the course of the year, as if making up the years when he hadn't grown a mite. Though he used to be able to nestle comfortably and effortlessly about the arc of her shoulders, he now had to cling to her pauldrons in order to keep his precarious position. He was heavy, too, what with all the gourmet dragon chow he insisted she buy him. 'To make up for all the lost birthdays and Frostvals', he had claimed. Despite her complaints, he'd insisted on staying in this position since the day began. It was rare that the term of phrase be literal but, in this case, her dragon really was being a pain in the neck.

"Don't you want to go out? We could go to the beach," she offers. "Or we could go out and look for treasure. I hear the portal by the Guardian Tower's still operational..."

He only snuggled further against her, eyes sliding sleepily shut as he did.

"Or we could find a hot spring?" she tries. "Watch a play? Go on a picnic? Anything?"

"Let's just stay in," is all he says. His grip around her shoulders tightened as he nuzzled at her chin. "Don't wanna go out today."

"I don't mind staying in, but..." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he moved about her shoulders. Between his weight and the pauldrons of her Cryptic regalia, it was getting increasingly difficult to keep balanced. "... Don't you think your bed would be more comfortable than my... neck?"

"No."

And with that said, he perched his chin on the top of her head and let out a quiet, content sigh.

To an outside viewer, the pair of them might have made for a sweet image like that but, as someone on the receiving end, her thoughts more or less went along the lines of: _'Ow. Dragons have pointy chins. Ow.'_

She loved her dragon dearly, she really did. But it was hard to remember that affection when he was _currently clinging like a limpet_.

"You're really heavy, you know... and your scales are really hot..."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Oh, come on..."

More than a little frustrated, she taps in through their mental connection, hoping to give just the least little mental nudge to at try and get him to loosen his grip, even if only slightly -

\- And, instead, sees hours (days/weeks/months) spent on a lonely clifftop, hears prayers, wishes, and curses spoken against someone who could not hear him, and feels vague flashes of loneliness, grief, and a stubborn inclination to never, _ever_ let go, no matter what!

One red eye slid open. It met hers, almost challenging, and, with something that was half a smile, half a look of guilt and resignation, she acquiesced.

"... Fine. Just because it's your birthday."

He was heavy but she was strong. One overly-clingy dragon wasn't going to kill her.

If he wanted to spend his birthday just hanging around their room, who was she to complain, really? It was certainly cheaper that way. In any case, a break didn't sound too bad. She could read, catch up on all the news she'd missed, maybe even finish some of the books she never had the time for before. They could even have snacks. She was sure she had some of last Mogloween's candy out there somewhere. Candy lasted a long time so it should still be okay to eat. But all those, of course, would be for later. For now, she had a birthday wish to grant and that was to be her now-clingy dragon's perch for the day. And as much of a pain in the neck as all of it sounded, today, just because it was his first birthday since the two of them had reunited, she would be happy to comply.

Then a thought occurs and she grins.

"Hey... didn't you say you just left me there?"

"I didn't say I left forever."

_ **end** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback's appreciated, have a nice day.


End file.
